HEALTH AND THE INTEGRATION OF BODY AND MIND

In today’s day and age, many of our nation’s newly graduated doctors are highly specialized physicians concentrating on specific regions within the body.  We see doctors specializing as endocrinologists, internists, neurologists, ophthalmologists, obstetricians, and more.  The days of the General Practitioner (G.P.) have been slowly slipping by the wayside.  Granted, each specialist has an extremely useful position in modern health, but we must not overlook the crucial position held by the G.P. in our current approach to healthcare. 

Doctors focused on providing holistic healthcare to their patients always look toward the whole patient, just as a General Practitioner doctor would.  And this is the type of care we always seek to provide here at our office, too.  In using both Chiropractic and Kinesiology, each patient we see receives care that addresses their whole health system, as a means of treating their particular complaint, or ailment.  The education and experience of a Chiropractic Holistic Healthcare practitioner, with the addition of Kinesiology, is geared toward treating the whole person, like a general practitioner “family doctor”.  The G.P., and the Holistic Practitioner both want to learn about the whole person in order to make the best diagnosis.   

The responsibilities of every holistic health care family physician are many.  It is his duty to screen those patients who need a more in-depth analysis of their malady, and refer them to the appropriate authority.  The holistic G.P. must therefore have a broad range of knowledge in all fields of health, to best discern where the next stop should be.  More importantly, a holistic health care physician must have a wide-based knowledge of health to best diagnose and treat the patients he doesn’t refer out.  To these patients, the physician must be able to inter-relate the myriad of signs and symptoms presented to him, and organize a treatment regime that will give optimal healing of his patients in the shortest amount of time.

This is where a sound knowledge of the interrelationship of the body and mind becomes crucial.  Patients rarely come to the doctor having merely one disorder, showing classic textbook symptoms.  The average ailment is commonly a combination of a lifetime of accumulated illnesses, injuries, daily lifestyle and personal habits, all of which add up to an opening discussion such as: “Doc, my back hurts.  Don’t really know why, it just went out on me.  And, oh yes, I just don’t have the energy I used to.  Maybe it’s because of all the headaches I’ve had lately.  I figure that’s because of this lingering flu and insomnia.  Do you think that may be why I have high blood pressure, Doc?”  Then, upon further investigation, the doctor may learn that the patient’s job and marriage are being strained because of his poor health, and he has been so frantic lately that he hasn’t had time to eat properly either, and has become quite fond of coffee, donuts, and TV.  To most of us, this scenario may seem like an exaggeration, except for that one time last year when the family came to visit over the holidays and…

Holistic health, by addressing one’s health from an integrated point of view, can help.  Knowing how strong emotions can affect our health, and conversely, how our bodies can affect our mental outlook, is very important.  What we eat, what, (if any), exercise we undertake, how much rest we obtain (both physically and mentally), our daily health habits and lifestyles, all must be looked into by the observant doctor.  The holistic G.P. must know how our internal structures, mental outlook, and physical aches and pains all interact.  He must also have a working order of therapy to help the body heal itself.  And finally, he must be able to teach and educate his patient as to why they are feeling al they are, and how they can help themselves at home and at work to avoid a recurrence of their illnesses.

(Dr. Richard Hanson, chiropractor in Jamestown, New York, can be reached at (716)664-0445.  Most major insurances are now being accepted.)